Wisdom from the Witch of Endor: Four Rules for Living

By Tikva Frymer-Kensky and Adele Reinhartz

Four simple rules, amazing results—how wisdom from an overlooked biblical hero can change your life! 
 
Tikva Frymer-Kensky shows readers how a seemingly minor story in the first book of Samuel can teach them key lessons to dramatically improve their lives. Saul, abandoned by God, approaches a medium in the village of Endor to call up the spirit of Samuel. Though Saul had outlawed her craft, she helped him when he promised her safety. And after Samuel prophesied Saul’s death, she showed the shaken king hospitality. 
 
Determination. Excellence. Caution. Benevolence. Four qualities of the “witch” of Endor will bring you success, even when the whole world stands against you. Are you ready to follow your dreams? To succeed when others tell you to give up? Embrace the wisdom of a little-known hero from the Bible—and see how it leads you to the life you were meant to live.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Release date: Jan 30, 2024
• ISBN: 9781467467162

Book preview

PREFACE

Tikva Simone Frymer-Kensky—scholar, teacher, author—died at sixty-two, of complications from breast cancer, in her home in Wilmette, Illinois, on August 31, 2006. Tikva was among the first generation of women biblical scholars and theologians. Professor of Hebrew Bible at the University of Chicago Divinity School, Tikva possessed a broad scholarly and intellectual reach, ranging from ancient Near Eastern civilization to contemporary theology, women in religion, and feminist thought. At the heart was her love of Hebrew Bible. A gifted teacher and lecturer, Tikva taught thousands at synagogues throughout the country, at conferences and interfaith gatherings. In her lectures, she made the Bible come alive for her audiences, showing how the Bible both reflected and stood out in its Near Eastern setting and at the same time was relevant for the ages. Tikva was deeply committed to the Bible as a living document, as a source for teaching, inspiration, and guidance for us today.

Tikva was born in Chicago on October 21, 1943, the second daughter born to Berl and Elyse Frymer, Jewish refugees from France, who luckily were in the United States on a lecture tour when France fell to the Nazis in the spring of 1940. Ardent Zionists, Berl and Elyse moved to Israel with their children several years after Israel became a state. Life in Israel was difficult at the time, and Tikva’s older sister Hanita could not adjust to life in the young country. The family returned to the United States, except for Tikva’s father, who remained in Israel until his retirement. In Israel, Tikva acquired her love for Hebrew. Upon her return to the United States, she pursued Hebrew and Bible studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary, and later she was trained in ancient Near Eastern studies at Yale University. Her experience as a woman seeking entry to the academy was a key factor in her transformation as a feminist scholar and theologian.

Wisdom from the Witch of Endor, found among Tikva’s papers after her passing, is a new gift of Tikva’s teachings. It is a shining example of Tikva’s close reading of the biblical text and how such reading can draw out teaching for our time. In many ways it is a homily, a modern midrash, on the story of the witch of Endor. Tikva wrote Wisdom from the Witch of Endor while she was battling breast cancer. For readers of the Bible, the witch of Endor is remembered primarily for her raising of Samuel from the dead and for her warning to Saul of the disaster that lay ahead. But Tikva took a deeper look at the